Andreas Hofer Monument (Bergisel)

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Andreas Hofer monument

The Andreas Hofer monument on the Bergisel in Innsbruck was erected from 1889 to 1892 based on a design by Heinrich Natter .

Location and description

The Bergisel was the scene of the four decisive battles of the Tyrolean people's uprising under Andreas Hofer in 1809. The memorial stands on the Bergisel plateau in the center of a complex that is surrounded by the Kaiserjägermuseum , the Tirol Panorama , the Kaiserjäger shooting ranges and the Urichhaus.

The larger-than-life bronze statue stands on a base made of Bozen porphyry weighing around ten tons . Hofer is shown as a determined commander with a broad-brimmed hat and flag in hand. On the sides there are two eagles with outspread wings, including the coat of arms with the Tyrolean eagle (west) and the Austrian double eagle (east). On the front of the base is a cartridge with the inscription “For God, Emperor and Fatherland”, which is surrounded by weapons and military symbols. The statue is a listed building .

history

The memorial on a postcard, before 1907
The 2009 memorial was hung with RAF symbols

In November 1880 a committee was founded to erect a memorial for Andreas Hofer, which included numerous personalities in addition to the Tyrolean governor Wilhelm von Bossi-Fedrigotti and Innsbruck mayor Heinrich Falk. This not only solicited donations in Tyrol, but in all crown lands . By 1887, 25,000 guilders were collected. At this time, the committee asked Heinrich Natter and in April 1888 officially commissioned him to design the monument. His draft was accepted by the committee with minor changes, but also met with considerable criticism. In an open letter, a group of well-known Tyrolean sculptors, including Josef Gasser , Hans Bernard , Hermann Klotz , Edmund Klotz and Michael Stolz , criticized the direct award of the contract to Natter and instead demanded in vain that a competition be held in which all Tyrolean artists could participate could participate.

In 1889 Natter completed the models for the statue and the two eagles, in 1889/90 he made the plaster statues for the bronze casting . Due to an illness, Natter had to interrupt the work several times and was unable to complete it due to his unexpected death on April 13, 1892. The architect Heinz Miksch supervised the completion of the statue, which was cast by the ore caster Tourbain in Vienna. On August 19, 1892 the statue arrived in Innsbruck and was placed on the Bergisel. The monument remained veiled for more than a year, and was only ceremoniously unveiled on September 28, 1893 in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I. After the ceremony, more than 10,000 riflemen with 52 bands marched through the city in a pageant.

The Bergisel and the Hoferdenkmal quickly became the “most important Tyrolean lieu de mémoire before 1914”. The traditional home of the Kaiserjäger with a shooting range and officer's pavilion was also set up here. All important political rallies of the inter-war and post-war period, especially in the context of the South Tyrol issue , took place here.

On October 1, 1961, the memorial was blown up by strangers. The statue broke off over the ankles and fell on its back. It was restored by the Graßmayr bell foundry and set up again on December 20, 1961. The attack was probably a reaction to the attacks carried out by the South Tyrol Liberation Committee on Italian institutions in South Tyrol, in particular the demolition of the Mussolini statue in Waidbruck in January 1961.

The monument has also repeatedly been the target of acts of vandalism and disruptive actions. On February 27, 1984 the inscription “Daniel Düsentrieb - Hofer was a Nazi” was sprayed on. On the night of October 28, 2009, the memorial was hung with a red flag, plastic guns and pictures related to the RAF . An Upper Austrian group committed itself to this action and wanted to protest against “mythological transfigurations, ritualized hero worship and politically motivated historiography” in the 2009 commemorative year.

literature

Web links

Commons : Andreas Hofer Monument  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Müller, Wiesauer: Monument to Andreas Hofer, Andreas Hofer Monument. In: Tyrolean art register . Retrieved August 11, 2015 .
  2. ↑ An artist dispute . In:  Innsbrucker Nachrichten , April 28, 1888, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / ibn
  3. ↑ a b Laurence Cole: Land divided and separate stories. Cultures of remembrance of the First World War in the successor regions of the Kronland Tyrol . In: Hannes Obermair u. a. (Ed.): Regional civil society in motion - Cittadini innanzi tutto . Vienna-Bozen: Folio Verlag 2012, ISBN 978-3-85256-618-4 , pp. 502-531, here: pp. 505-507.
  4. ^ Horst Christoph: Terror um Tirol: Fire nights and torturers . In: profile from June 14, 2011
  5. ↑ a b Andreas Oberhofer: Andreas Hofer as an icon, idol, relic, bogeyman, object, statue? In: Christina Antenhofer (Ed.): Fetish as a heuristic category: history - reception - interpretation. transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2011, p. 333
  6. ^ Disruptive action at the Andreas Hofer monument . In: tirol.orf.at of August 28, 2009
  7. ↑ Upper Austria group is committed to RAF symbols on the Hofer monument . In: Oberösterreichische Nachrichten of August 31, 2009

Coordinates: 47 ° 15 ′ 1.7 ″  N , 11 ° 24 ′ 2.5 ″  E